Sure limits: Bulgaria reduces illegal migration by 70 percent!

Sure limits: Bulgaria reduces illegal migration by 70 percent!

The pressure from Austria and the EU has had an effect: Bulgaria has invested significantly in border protection in the past two years and has reduced the number of illegal border crossings at the 281 -kilometer long border with Turkey by an impressive 70 percent. Bulgaria and Romania have been part of the "Schengen Air" since March 1, 2024, which has been repealed at certain limits. Roman Bakarev, deputy head of the airports at the Bulgarian border police, reports that the changeover initially brought about challenges, but now works smoothly, such as Kleine Zeitung reported.

Significant measures to secure limits

To improve the security situation, 1,264 new civil servants were hired and over 280 off -road vehicles were procured, another 80 are to follow. This is part of a comprehensive restructuring of border protection. At the same time, the equipment at border crossings, for example in Kapitan Andreevo, improved the largest border crossing in Europe, where 7.6 million people traveled last year. Jani Pejchew, the head of the border crossing, emphasizes that the controls here are more strict than ever to protect the EU external borders. The technologies for control include a CO2 measuring device for checking vehicles and thermal imaging cameras in order to recognize illegal activities early on, as Krone reports.

The decline in illegal migration and the increased controls show success: While around 140,000 illegal border crossings were still registered in 2022, this number fell to around 50,000 by 2024. These successes are not only due to Bulgarian measures, but also to close cooperation with Turkey. In addition, the European Border Protection Agency Frontex has provided additional support in Bulgarian border regions.